EDUC 451 — INQUIRY SEMINAR II – Revised July 2016
Secondary (3 credits)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Inquiry Seminar II is designed to provide teacher candidates with an opportunity to:
- refine their engagement in teacher inquiry based on their exploration of a question in Inquiry I,
- share their progress in exploring/researching their inquiry publicly with colleagues,
- explore links between the theoretical and practical perspectives related to their inquiry question and their emerging practice as a teacher.
The role of the instructor is that of advisor during the inquiry exploration process. The students will have explored an area of interest, for example, through research/reading, engaging with colleagues (including others in the cohort or subject area, as well as teachers and advisors), and reflecting on practice based on what they are doing or seeing. Suggested elements for the Inquiry Seminar II are:
Consultation/collaborative sessions to refine one’s inquiry: Working with one’s instructor and/or colleagues to refine the exploration of one’s inquiry question, share progress and receive/give feedback.
Representation: Sharing one’s progress in exploring one’s inquiry question (through educational research, consulting resources, engaging with colleagues, reflecting on experiences), e.g., through a professional blog, cohort-based seminars (round tables) or other means.
Links to practice: Making connections between one’s inquiry question and one’s emerging
practice as a teacher; may be in direct relation to one’s practicum or more broadly to one’s teaching in general. It is recommended that links be integrated throughout the inquiry process and be explored during school visits with one’s school- and/or faculty- advisor/s.
EDUC 450, 451, 452: Inquiry Seminars I, II, III (Secondary)
The inquiry process across the BEd (Secondary) program consists of
- learning about teacher inquiry (EDUC 450 – Inquiry I)
- preparing to explore an inquiry question (EDUC 450 – Inquiry I)
- developing and sharing one’s inquiry process (EDUC 450 and 451 – Inquiry I and II)
- exploring links to practice (EDUC 451 – Inquiry II)
- reflecting on the inquiry process, links to practice, ongoing questions, learning over the year and developing professional learning goals (EDUC 452 – Inquiry III)
Exploration of an inquiry question should demonstrate an emerging ability to
- engage substantively with a selected topic,
- inform their understanding of the topic through careful reading of the literature (including a wide variety of information sources), grounded in an understanding of significant issues, perspectives, assumptions,
- position oneself in relation to ideas discussed,
- grapple with and integrate as part of their learning reflections on what they are seeing, hearing and trying in the context of educational practice in schools,
- consider educational issues critically.
COURSE OUTLINE
Consultation/Collaboration SessionsTopic / Teacher candidates refine their inquiry process collaboratively with the instructor and/or peers.
Teacher candidates work collaboratively with their instructor and/or peers in reviewing and refining their exploration of an inquiry question; they engage critically with the questions and explorations generated by their peers; they respond to questions about their own inquiry process from instructor and peers.
Representation of Process
Topic / Making inquiry process (synthesis of learning) public through such means as a multi-media sharing, professional blog, cohort-based seminar (round tables) or other.
Teacher candidates share their inquiry journey with their peers, instructor, school and/or faculty advisors. Sharing occurs at various points throughout the term and is not intended to take the form of one major summative project. This may take the form of a critically reflective post to a blog, cross cohort or subject area discussions, an infographic, or other.
Links to Practice
Topic / Making connections between one’s inquiry journey and one’s emerging practice as a teacher.
Teacher candidates link what they are learning in their inquiry process to their practice and planning as a beginning teacher. This may take the form of integrating what they learn from practice into their exploration of their inquiry question, as well as planning for integration of the inquiry topic into one’s practicum setting or more broadly into one’s future teaching in general. They explore links to practice as they learn through methodology courses and plan for practicum.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Sharing of one’s inquiry journey
The inquiry process is driven by the teacher candidate’s own questions, developing areas of interest and/or identified areas of need. Inquiry questions may be related a theme (e.g., the cohort theme), a disciplinary topic (e.g., literacy learning, numeracy), a particular curriculum emphasis (e.g., cross-curricular pedagogies, formative assessment) or an educational issue (e.g., teaching for social justice, exclusionary policies).
a) Refining touches of inquiry process
Teacher candidates will have begun (or possibly completed) research around their inquiry question and now wish to refine their process in preparation for sharing with colleagues. This refinement may take the form of group consultation sessions with the cohort instructor, where the instructor takes the role of advisor, or other kinds of opportunities for peers to give each other feedback.
b) Sharing of inquiry process
Teacher candidates will engage in sharing their learning in a formative way throughout the course, for example, through ongoing discussions and opportunities to receive feedback on their emerging understandings. A synthesis of their inquiry learning shared in EDUC 451 represents one step on a continuing journey of understanding that will be revisited at various points including during EDUC 452 after the extended practicum.
2. Links to Practice
Teacher candidates will explore links between their inquiry question and what they have learned thus far and their emerging role as a teacher. Ideally attention to links to practice is integrated into a synthesis of how the teacher candidate is learning through inquiry. This may also take the form of a planning outline for integration of the inquiry into one’s practicum setting or more broadly into one’s future teaching in general.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING ABOUT EXPLORING YOUR INQUIRY QUESTION
Exploring one’s inquiry question during field experiences, e.g., sharing with school and/or faculty advisors during your weekly visits and/or practica in schools) is one way to learn – in addition to consulting the literature, considering media, policy statements, and other sources of information. Please note that citations or any other data collected from students, teachers or others from the field may NOT be included in any written material related to your inquiry.
Citing an article that is already publicly available is part and parcel of academic practice; no permissions are necessary because the author(s) have, of their own volition, represented their ideas in a public manner.
Citing a human subject (e.g., expert) involves a researcher recording, interpreting, and representing the ideas of the human subject in the public where the human subject has no control over that interpretation or representation; to protect the human subject, therefore, protocols (ethical approval by UBC’s Behavioural Research Ethics Board) are required in advance, including demonstration that the researcher has fully informed the human subject about the purpose of the research and the research questions; that conditions of anonymity will be created in so far as possible, etc. Such ethical approval and, therefore, direct citation is beyond the scope of the inquiry process outlined in EDUC 450 & 451.
POSSIBLE READINGS FOR EDUC 450 AND 451
Aoki, T. (2005). Interests, knowledge and evaluation: Alternative approaches to
Curriculum evaluation. In R. Irwin & W.H. Pinar (Eds.), Curriculum in a new key:
The collected works of Ted T. Aoki (pp. 137-150). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Alvarado, A., & Herr, P. (2003). Inquiry-based learning using everyday objects: Hands on
instructional strategies that promote active learning in Grades 3-8. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Blumberg, A. (1990). Toward a scholarship of practice. Journal of Curriculum and
Supervision, 5(3) 236-243.
Burnafford, G., Fischer, J., & Hobson, D. (2001). (Eds.) Teachers doing research: The power
of action through inquiry. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Cecil, N. L., & Pfeifer, J. (2011). The art of inquiry: Questioning strategies for K-6
classrooms. Portage & Main Press.
Clarke, A., & Erickson, G. (2006). Teacher inquiry: What’s old is new again. BC Educational
Leadership Research, 1, 44-68.
Clarke, A., & Erickson, G. (2003). Teacher inquiry: Living the research in everyday
practice. London, UK: Routledge Falmer. [available online via UBCLib]
Cole, A. & Knowles, J. G. (2000). Researching teaching: Exploring teacher development
through reflexive inquiry. Part III. Toronto, ON: Allyn & Bacon.
Coulter, D. (1999). The epic and the novel: Dialogism and teacher research. Educational
Researcher, 28(3), 4-13.
Davis, B. (2004), Inventions of teaching: A genealogy (Selected Chapters). London: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work: Best practices
for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service
and Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Fenwick, T. (2000). Expanding conceptions of experiential learning: A review of the five
contemporary perspectives on cognition. Adult Education Quarterly, 50(4), 243-272.
Filipenko, M. & Naslund, J. (2016). Problem-based learning in teacher education. Switzerland:
Springer.
Fischer, J. (2001). Action research rationale and planning: Developing a framework for
teacher inquiry. In G. Burnafford, J. Fischer, & D. Hobson, D. (Eds.) Teachers doing
research: The power of action through inquiry. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Fichtman Dana, N. & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom
research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Halbert, J., & Kaser, L. (2013). Spirals of Inquiry. Vancouver, BC: BC Principals and Vice
Principals Association.
Harvey, S. (2015). Comprehension & collaboration: Inquiry circles for curiosity, engagement
and understanding. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Henderson, J. (1992). Reflective teaching: Becoming an inquiring educator. Toronto, CA:
Maxwell Macmillan Publishers.
McIsaac, Scott. (2004). Free-run children. Educational Insights, 8(3), 177.
McKeown, M. & Beck, I. (1999). Getting the discussion started. Educational Leadership (57) 3,
25-28.
Osborne, K. (2009). Education and schooling: A relationship that can never be taken for granted.
In D.L. Coulter & J.R. Wiens (Eds.), Why do we educate? Renewing the conversation
(pp. 21-41). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Ritchhart, R (2011). Making thinking visible how to promote engagement, understanding, and
independence for all learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Romano, M.E. (2004): Teacher reflections on ‘bumpy moments’ in teaching: A self study.
Teachers and teaching: Theory and practice, 10:6, 663-681.
Shamsher, M., Decker, E., & Leggo, C. (2003). Teacher research in the backyard:
Kitimat-Terrace teacher research. Vancouver, BC: BC Teachers’ Federation.
Sims, M. (1993). How my question keeps evolving. In Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. (Eds.)
Inside- out: Teacher research and knowledge, (pp. 283-289). NY: Teachers College Press.
Watt, J., & Colyer, J. (2014). IQ: A practical guide to inquiry-based learning. Don Mills: Oxford
University Press.
WEB RESOURCES
BC Teachers Federation: Teacher Inquiry
Networks: An online journal of teacher research
Carnegie Foundation: Inside teaching: A living archive of practice